Oh la la, la Mousse au chocolat!

Sometimes I do not understand myself. The more I am gasping to deliver the book on time, the more I want to carve out at least ten minutes to write here on my blog. It seems to be back to the earliest days of the blog, when I would write a post in one go, sometimes in an hour or so, including the time to decide what to cook, cook it, take a decent photo of the dish hanging in the balance on a living room chair, eat it, digest it and eventually write the post.

Everything was born just for passion, and for passion it goes on, even when you would just close your eyes and sleep at the end of the day or keep them closed for another minute, just one, in the early morning, when you still can hear the few cars racing on the road at the bottom of the valley.

I write my blog for passion, and for passion I cook, even when my mum – saint woman – let me off any domestic task as to let me get through the book without many sleepless nights. Take yesterday: a summer dinner in the garden with a big fish from Castiglioncello fished from a family friend, ten people at home, all at work.

There were those who sliced the vegetables, others were grilling the bread for bruschetta, my dad was taking care of the fire in the barbecue. I could stay in the living room, turned temporarily in an office, hidden behind my Mac screen among my papers highlighted in pink. Though, I made an innocent question in a low voice: What about the dessert? Silence.

I warn you: don’t start me off. I cannot figure out a summer dinner in the garden with grilled fish and vegetables without a dessert. I step above deadlines, sleep and tiredness. I step above diet. I made a chocolate mousse with Elizabeth David‘s foolproof recipe. I have made this mousse countless times, even for the fist issue of Dolci Tentazioni, when I mixed in also a tablespoon of rose syrup to give a floral hint to the already perfect chocolatey pleasure. This time I kept it basic. Then I sprinkled on top a few lightly toasted coconut flakes. I took also a few shots, just to use the new blue background I painted a few days ago. At the end, I had all I needed to write a short post, I missed writing just for the heck of it.

The truth is, I wanted to feel again like Vianne in Chocolat, cooking for a dinner in the garden. Thank goodness they took care of everything else, otherwise I would have lost control of the situation. I still had time to fill ten glasses, decorate them with some coconut and hide them in the fridge. Then at the right time I pulled them out and went to the garden, and there I felt a shiver. With some imagination I was Vianne, bringing to the table the chocolate, the sweetness and a smile for everyone.

This is the most simple French recipe for a chocolate mousse, naturally gluten and lactose free. You whip it up in five minutes, then after you tasted it countless times just to fix your chocolate need, you forget it in the fridge, where it will get even more tempting, with a light and bubbly texture.

Since it has just two ingredients, make sure to use fresh free range eggs and a very good dark chocolate… but I know I’m talking with chocolate geeks, so I have no doubt you will make the best choice.

Beat lightly the egg yolks, then pour in the melted chocolate: whisk quickly until smooth.

Beat the egg whites until stiff: stir in a tablespoon of whipped egg whites into the chocolate to soften it, then fold the rest of the egg whites until perfectly blended.

Spoon the mousse into 4 coffee cups and stack them away in the fridge for a few hours.

Just before serving sprinkle the mousse with the cocoa powder or some coconut flakes.

2.2.8

And then there’s the new one, Wolf. Wolf as Nero Wolf, a literary detective, where Nero means black. But wolf would perfectly describe also his eating behaviours, since he basically wolfs down anything even vaguely resembling food.

He was abandoned by someone – don’t let me use any other epithet because there are children who could read this blog – around mid-August. Claudia and her friends found him, and his yellow-greenish eyes first won mum, then the rest of the family.

Now we are trying to win him with cuddle and food, he is still a bit suspicious but he has already found his favorite corner to sleep, between the backgrounds I use for my photos. He loves fish, cuddle on the belly and on the snout and the pot of basil, behind which he usually sleeps in the afternoon. He is a gourmet cat, the new member of our family.

This is my all-time favourite chocolate mousse recipe, such a classic and like all good things, so simple! Thanks for reminding me of it, it’s been a little while since I’ve made it and now I will probably have to wait until the baby’s born to eat it again! But I think this will go down perfectly for christmas, wouldn’t you say? 😉 P.S. Wolf is absolutely gorgeous!

I make a very similar version but with slightly more chocolate and no water. I love the look of yours though with its slightly lighter, bubblier texture. Also love that you’ve included links to other mousses – they all sound divine!

Perfect. After Christmas we tried and it was a WOW! First, I was affraid to give raw egg to the kids, but figured out, that egg yolk had actually a heat treat with melted choco, so we gave a try. Second time, I made it for my colleagues at workplace. They were amazed too 🙂 Grazie mille!

But that’s a great feedback, thank you Beastie! If raw eggs come from a healthy and safe place, I am confident they are ok. We even make tiramisu with raw eggs, and it’s a winner! thank you for trying out the recipe! I bet you are now a star among your colleagues at workplace! Food works always!

You’d be amazed how hard it is to track down this classic recipe in printed cookbooks! I first found it in the old NY Times Cookbook but not in newer editions, and I have a French cookbook, Les classiques de Camille, but I’m lazy about metric conversions, so I’m so happy to find it here, just in time for Valentine’s Day. Your cat is a beauty – mine could be its twin, white tufts and all!

Hi! I’m on the hunt for the best classic chocolate mousse. The recipes with just whipped cream and chocolate, tho yummy just don’t do it for me. Glad I found this! Is this the type of mousse firm enough for a mousse cake? Or does it have a runny consistency?

That mousse looks so light and ethereal! I’ve tried the recipe but my mousse set heavier and denser. One of my friends suggested because my chocolate was too dark (I chose 80%) and the eggs I used were too small (North American “Large”=European “Medium”). So I’m curious, what type of chocolate did you use for yours? 66%~70% cocoa solids? And were your eggs European “Large” (i.e.64~70g each)? Thank you so much!

Ciao Rowena, I think I used a 70% dark chocolate and I’m pretty sure our eggs are about 65 g each, you are right, so probably this is the reason why your chocolate mousse was heavier and denser. Let me know if you’ll try it again!